This topic describes how to connect to the Delphix Engine command line interface.

If the same username exists in both the SYSTEM and DOMAIN namespaces (for example a sysadmin and a domain user), when logging in via ssh it is necessary for the user to explicitly provide the namespace SYSTEM or DOMAIN. For example, a user whose name exists in both namespaces must ssh in as either "someone@SYSTEM" or "someone@DOMAIN". If the user tries to log in as just "someone", the engine will give an error:

Ambiguous username. Add a @DOMAIN or @SYSTEM suffix to the username.

The CLI is available over SSH or the terminal console on any Delphix Engine version 3.0 or later. To connect, use any SSH client appropriate for your workstation environment and connect to the Delphix Engine by IP or hostname on the standard SSH port (22). Enter a username for either a domain or system user followed by the namespace appropriate to that user (either DOMAIN or SYSTEM). For example:

ssh admin@DOMAIN@delphix-server.example.com

ssh sysadmin@SYSTEM@delphix-server.example.com 

The default domain user created on Delphix Engines is now admin instead of delphix_admin. Engines created before 5.3.1 and upgraded to 5.3.1 or newer retain the old username delphix_admin. To avoid complications, we recommend you create users with an admin role and disable delphix_admin. If your Delphix Engine is a new engine, log in as admin and ssh admin@yourengine.

At the prompt, enter your user password. Once connected, you will be placed at the CLI prompt:

delphix>

While both admin and sysadmin produce the same prompt once logged in, be aware that the two users have different menus and different functional areas.

Sysadmin menu

delphix> ls
Children
network
service
storage
system
user
Operations
version
Operations
version
delphix>

Delphix admin menu

delphix> ls
Children
alert
audit
authorization
connectivity
database
environment
fault
group
host
job
namespace
network
policy
replication
repository
service
session
snapshot
source
sourceconfig
system
timeflow
user
Operations
version
delphix>

Individual commands passed as arguments to the SSH client will be interpreted as if they had been read from the terminal. More complex scripts can be passed as input to the SSH command. When running SSH in non-interactive mode via these mechanisms, the command line prompt will be suppressed, as will terminal font decorations such as underline and bold.

The CLI is also available from the serial terminal console should the network be unavailable. Consult your VM platform documentation for information on how to connect to the terminal console. Once connected, log in using your Delphix user credentials just as you would over SSH.

If the management service is unavailable due to a software bug or other problem, contact Delphix Support before you restart the management service. Restarting can remove critical state information that Delphix Support needs for root cause analysis. The CLI can still be accessed as a system user provided that user is locally authenticated (not via LDAP) and has logged in at least once before. While in this state, only the system commands are available. If directed by Delphix Support, use restart to attempt to restart the management service without rebooting the entire server.

The topic CLI cookbook: configuring Key-Based SSH Authentication for Automation shows an example of how to connect to the CLI using SSH key exchange instead of the standard password-based authentication.

Last updated
Oct 9, 2026